By Jhelyn G. Andal

The Provincial Board last week passed a resolution supporting Governor Joel T. Reyes’ move to place the Southern Palawan Provincial Hospital (SPPH) in a two-month “hospital holiday.”

During its 87th regular session, May 5, the Board, after conducting two sets of questioning regarding the controversies going on in the hospital, finally arrived with a decision to temporarily close the medical facility in Brooke’s Point.

“The resolution we adopted was to effect a rationalization program for the SPPH. This means there will be a revamp of all the (hospital) employees . . .And as an incident of this, is what we call a hospital holiday for two months,” Vice-Gov. David Ponce de Leon explained.

He added that they used the term “hospital holiday” since it was what the Department of Health accepts so that there would be no need for the hospital to acquire a new license once it reopen.

The Board also expressed hope that the Provincial Health Office (PHO) would be able to take necessary measures while the resolution has not yet been signed by the governor and the date of the closure still uncertain. The PHO should be immediately ready for any unlikely situation, the Board said.

A reverse situation might occur, Ponce de Leon said in an interview. Hospital employees might also declare their own holiday.

“Under the civil service code, this could constitute for abandonment, and there are legal actions for that. What’s important is that the PHO is able to immediately effect contingency measures,” the vice-governor furthered.

In case the employees stop working, someone should be put as head in the hospital to facilitate the operations and attend to the needs of the patients, he stated.

The idea to temporarily close the SPPH rooted from personal conflicts between hospital employees. An interim committee was conducted to settle the situation but failed.

“Our efforts to establish a good working relationship between the employees did not materialize,” Dr. Eduardo Cruz, acting provincial health officer and head of the interim committee, said. The only solution left was the reorganization of personnel, he added.

All positions in the hospital would be declared vacant until the PHO has found new employees to fill these positions. The interim committee said that they have already contacted personnel from other district hospitals in the province to be assigned in Brooke’s Point.

Current SPPH employees, on the other hand, would meet with the interim committee for their preferred assignments.

Hospital personnel present during the Board’s questioning assured that they would accept the decision. But prior to the approval of the resolution, 83 out of 98 employees, both permanent and contractual, appealed to reconsider the motion for the hospital closure.

They clarified that most of the employees were not involved in the conflicts going on at SPPH. Patients were not also neglected, they said.

Dr. Cruz also confirmed that they have not received any formal complaint from patients. However, he said that they do not want to wait for such before acting on the problem.

A doctor at SPPH said internal conflicts in the hospital had long been there. She related that every time a new hospital head assumes office, personnel and employees often file a petition against the new head, creating differences between the staff.